Blameless

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2  He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; Psalm 15:1-2

    What great questions David asks as he begins this Psalm!  The root of his questioning is this: “Who gets to be with God?”  This is the perfect question because this should be the longing of our hearts if we know God.  The one who knows God, who is pursuing God, who has given their hearts and lives to God should be longing to be in His presence.  The Christian must long to be in God’s tent and on His holy hill.  David, then, begins his Psalm with the most important question.  If our deepest desire is to dwell and be with God then we must ask, how are we able to do that?  Who gets to be with God?  

    David’s answer to the question of who gets to be with God is somewhat deflating.  David’s first response to this question is those who are blameless.  Blameless!  It is the one “who walks blamelessly, does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.”  If my deepest longing is to dwell with God and I hear this, then I am deeply concerned.  The words blameless, right and true and words I can confidently or honestly use in describing myself.  David continues on in this Psalm to list examples of what is required of one who would dwell with God.  And, here’s the best part…David is absolutely right!  Anyone who wishes to dwell with God must be blameless, spotless, righteous, pure, true.  If you are not these things then you cannot dwell with a God who is Holy.  If I am looking at this Psalm as a requirement that I must fulfill then I realize very quickly that I am in serious trouble.  What then is my hope?  Here is what Paul says in Romans 7:7, “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”  Paul tells us that the purpose of the Law is to show our sin.  The Law, this Psalm included, is meant to show us how sinful we are.  This is what David shows us in this Psalm and what Paul confirms in his letter.  The Law requires us to be blameless in order to get to God.  Paul utters the despair that this realization brings in verse 24 of Romans 7, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Paul acknowledges his sin and wretchedness.  Paul acknowledges that he isn’t blameless and asks who will save him.  Paul acknowledges that this salvation must come from outside of his own person.  This is the ultimate purpose of the Law…to show us our sin and convince us that we need something or someone outside of ourselves to save us.  This is then how Paul follows up his question, asking who will deliver him, in verse 25 and the first verse of Romans 8, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  This is where our hope is found.  This is the hope of Psalm 15.  Psalm 15 tells us, “Be blameless if you want to dwell with God.”  We say, “We are not blameless, the Law condemns me, who will deliver me?”  Jesus enters and says that He has fulfilled the Law (Matthew 5:17) and Paul tells us that there is no condemnation for those who put their hope in Jesus.  Jesus frees us from the condemnation that the Law brings!  This is the Gospel.  

    Do you long to dwell with God?  Be blameless!  This is what the Law demands.  This is what God demands!  This surely condemns us.  Do not, though, lose heart.  Do not!  Yes, acknowledge that the Law condemns.  Yes, acknowledge that you are not blameless, but do not lose heart.  Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who came to fulfill what we cannot.  He is our hope.  Through Him we become the very righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)…we become BLAMELESS!  

PRAYER OF THE DAY: Thank you God that you made a way for us to become blameless so that we can dwell with You!  I thank you for Jesus!